What are PR Backlinks? The Ultimate Guide to Digital PR
If you're a founder or marketing lead, you've probably been told that you need backlinks to improve your SEO. But what's often missing is a clear explanation of how you actually get them - and what 'authority' really means in modern search.
Digital PR is one of the most effective ways to earn high-quality backlinks, improve your Google rankings, and build long-term visibility online. More importantly, it does something broader:
It builds your brand as an authority -across search engines and AI systems alike.
Key Takeaways
1. Backlinks are links from other websites to yours - search engines use them as a trust signal.
2. Quality matters far more than quantity. A handful of links from authoritative sites outweighs dozens from low-quality ones.
3. Digital PR earns backlinks through real editorial coverage - not by asking for links directly.
4. Brand mentions (without a link) also build authority with both search engines and AI systems.
5. 85% of SEO experts say link building is the primary driver of brand authority in search.
6. The most effective digital PR campaigns generate backlinks, brand mentions, and media coverage together.
7. AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity increasingly surface brands with strong backlink profiles.
Key link building statistics
1. Interest in link building is at an all-time high. From around February 2025, Google Trends recorded a significant uptick in searches for 'link building.' Source: BuzzStream
2. Around 67.5% of businesses recognise that link building significantly impacts their SERP rankings.Source: uSERP
3. 58.1% of SEOs recognise the significant impact of backlinks on search engine rankings.Source: SEO.AI
4. 93.8% of SEO experts emphasise the importance of acquiring quality links.Source: Demandsage
What backlinks actually do for your website
A backlink is a link from another website that points to your domain. Search engines like Google use them as a trust signal - a vote of confidence that your content is worth referencing.
In simple terms:
- More high-quality backlinks = more authority
- More authority = higher rankings
- Higher rankings = more organic traffic
Backlinks don’t just improve SEO - they shape how your brand is perceived online.
They act as third-party validation. When credible publications link to your website, it signals that your brand is:
- Trusted
- Relevant
- Worth paying attention to
This has a direct impact beyond rankings:
- Stronger brand credibility
- Higher conversion rates from organic traffic
- Increased visibility in competitive market
"85% of SEO experts confirm that link building is the primary driver for establishing Brand Authority, signalling to search engines that a company is not just a website, but a verified entity within its industry." (Source: Semrush: The State of SEO & Backlinks)
In short: the more trust your website builds with Google, the greater your visibility in search results - and the greater your chances of attracting more PR opportunities over time.
Why Digital PR is the best way to earn backlinks
Digital PR is fundamentally different from traditional link building.
Instead of asking for links directly, you earn them through coverage in real publications - because you're part of a story they are publishing, not because you requested a backlink. That distinction matters enormously to search engines.
Coverage that qualifies includes:
- Online newspapers and magazines
- Industry blogs and niche publications
- Newsletters and digital editors
- Podcasts and their show notes pages
"Articles exceeding 3,000 words earn approximately 3.5 times more backlinks than shorter, thin-content pieces. Newsworthy content - the backbone of PR - is objectively more successful at attracting high-authority backlinks than standard promotional copy." (Source: Increv.co)
To understand how to execute this at a higher level, How to Get National Media Coverage in the UK is an essential read. It shows that data-driven content is far more likely to become a 'linkable asset' - the kind of resource journalists and high-authority publications naturally want to cite.
How backlinks actually happen: In 4 steps
Backlinks don't appear simply because you've created good content. They happen through a chain of story, distribution, and trust.
1. You create something worth talking about
This could be:
- Original data or research
- Industry insights or trends
- Founder commentary or expert opinion
- Surveys or reports
- Newsworthy company updates
The goal is simple: create something journalists or content creators actually want to reference.
2. You get it in front of the right people
Journalists don't automatically discover stories. Most coverage comes from direct outreach, known media contacts, repeat relationships with editors, and trusted sources they've used before.
Distribution matters just as much as the story itself.
3. Journalists publish your story - and link to you
If the story is relevant, it gets published across online publications, industry blogs, newsletters, and podcasts. When journalists reference your company or data, they typically include a backlink to your website as the source. That's where your SEO value comes from.
4. Those backlinks build authority over time
Search engines like Google evaluate who is linking to you, how authoritative those sites are, and how relevant the content is. This is what builds domain authority - the cumulative trust signal that improves your rankings over time.
Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush are commonly used to measure and track this impact over time.
Backlinks vs brand mentions: What actually matters in modern PR
Digital PR is often framed purely as a link-building strategy. But modern search works in two distinct layers - and both matter.
Backlinks: The strongest SEO signal
These are clickable links from trusted sites that directly improve your rankings in search engines like Google. They remain one of the most important factors in SEO performance - and the primary reason digital PR campaigns are built around earning editorial coverage.
Brand mentions: The new authority signal
A brand mention is when your company is referenced in content without a hyperlink. For example:
- "According to [Your Company]…"
- "UK-based PR agency Words + Pixels found…"
Even without a link, search engines and AI systems can understand your brand name, your relevance to a topic, and your authority within a category.
Why this matters for SEO and AI Search
Search is no longer purely link-based. Modern systems - including AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT - increasingly rely on repeated brand mentions, contextual authority, trusted source frequency, and entity recognition (understanding who you are, not just who links to you).
Google is also moving in this direction, placing greater emphasis on understanding brands as entities, not just websites. That means even when a backlink isn't included, a strong media mention still contributes to how your brand is understood - and surfaced - online.
Why Digital PR also matters for AI Search
Search is changing faster than most brands realise.
AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity rely heavily on trusted sources when generating answers. That means:
- Brands mentioned in credible publications are more likely to be surfaced in AI-generated responses
- Websites with strong backlink profiles are more likely to be cited as sources
- Consistent authority signals - built through digital PR - matter more than ever
Digital PR strengthens your visibility across both traditional search and AI-generated answers. The two are increasingly interconnected.
Final thoughts
- Backlinks are one of the most powerful signals in SEO - but they don't come from asking for them. They come from building something worth referencing, getting it in front of the right people, and earning coverage in publications that matter.
- Digital PR is the most sustainable and credible way to make that happen - and when done well, it also builds brand mentions, media relationships, and visibility in AI search at the same time.
- The next question is how to execute it. That's covered in the companion guide: How to build backlinks through Digital PR - covering journalist relationships, distribution channels, campaign structure, and how to measure results.
Want help building authority through Digital PR?
At Words + Pixels, we help UK businesses turn PR into a measurable authority and SEO growth channel - not just awareness. If you're a founder or marketing lead looking to consistently earn high-quality backlinks and visibility from digital publications, podcasts, and newsletters, this is exactly what modern PR should be doing for your business.
